The best book of this kind is David Magee's "Infinite Riches." Trust
me, I've read all the books already suggested (and they are good,
especially those by Gekoski, Randall, and Basbanes). Engaging,
entertaining, enlightening, humorous, full of bibliographical lore and
wonderful stories from the 1920s through the 1950s, "Infinite Riches"
is topped off by a previously unpublished Max Beerbohm caricature. What
more can one ask for?
Mark Samuels Lasner
Senior Research Fellow
University of Delaware Library
181 South College Avenue
Newark, DE 19717
Tel (302) 831-3250
marksl@udel.edu
biblio@aol.com